President Donald Trump is going all-in on artificial intelligence, dismissing growing concerns over AI and data centers as politically motivated “hoaxes” while promising that his administration will not “hinder or stifle” the rapidly expanding industry.
Trump announced Saturday that he is forming an “AI Force,” which he compared to the Space Force created during his first term, and will soon appoint an AI “czar.”
“We will cherish it, help it, and watch over it, as it grows!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The president provided few details about what the new force would actually do, including where it would sit within the federal government, what authority it would have or how it would differ from existing federal AI initiatives. Trump instead argued that harmful uses of AI could be addressed through the existing criminal and civil justice systems.
His embrace of the technology comes as some Republicans are confronting growing opposition to the data centers needed to power it ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Trump’s longtime pollster Tony Fabrizio warned Republican candidates in a memo this week that “unqualified support for building more AI data centers is a losing position.” Fabrizio advised candidates to address concerns about electricity prices, pressure on power grids and water consumption rather than offer blanket support for new construction.
Trump took the opposite tone Saturday, claiming opposition to data centers had “largely failed” because communities discovered they brought “Higher Salaries, Lower Taxes, and Safer Streets.”
Some Republican candidates have gone further than Fabrizio’s messaging advice. Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers has backed a one-year moratorium on new data centers in his state and called for slowing AI development while the government develops additional safeguards.
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Sign up for our free morning newsletter, Crash Course.* Trump, meanwhile, framed rapid AI development as both an economic imperative and a competition with China, claiming the technology could eventually account for as much as 25% of U.S. gross domestic product.
His enthusiasm extends even to the technology’s name.
Hours before announcing the AI Force, Trump asked his Truth Social followers to vote on replacing “Artificial Intelligence” with “Superior Intelligence,” “Extreme Intelligence” or “Supreme Intelligence.”